Paradox, the developer behind grand strategy game Stellaris, will release its officially licensed Star Trek game on Oct. 12, and it’s looking promising on PC.
In 2016, Paradox released Stellaris, its first space-based 4X grand strategy game. It allowed players to take on the role of an upstart interstellar empire, establish colonies, manage their government, forge alliances, and crush their enemies. The game’s galaxy was vast and robust, but, as Polygon’s own Charlie Hall pointed out in his initial review, it was also fairly generic, a weakness that the modding community has sought to rectify by applying the aesthetics and history of their own favorite space operas overtop of it, such as Star Wars, Mass Effect, and of course, Star Trek. Not to be outdone, Paradox and developer Nimble Giant have been creating an officially licensed Star Trek 4X game, Star Trek: Infinite. Paradox offered me the opportunity to preview the game over Labor Day weekend, and those four days melted away.
Stellaris players will immediately recognize much of Star Trek: Infinite’s interface and basic gameplay, down to the keyboard shortcuts. You begin by selecting your faction and expanding your immediate circle of influence across a two-dimensional galactic map, surveying and colonizing local star systems, developing new technologies and relationships with your neighbors. Depending on your faction, your goal may be to build partnerships, annihilate obstacles, or something in between.
As the decades pass and your empire grows, your responsibilities become more complex and varied, from keeping your sprawling population employed to defending your borders against hostile invasion. Conflict is inevitable and defeat is an expected part of the process, as power dynamics shift over the course of centuries. The constant juggling of tasks and the ability to shrug off the odd failure make for a compelling combination that I suspect will keep players glued to their seats for hours on end.
The things that make Star Trek: Infinite hard to put down are mainly inherited from Stellaris; however, producer Mats Holm flatly rejects the notion that Star Trek: Infinite is a mere branded module.
“We split off from the Stellaris main branch quite a while ago,” says Holm. “The Stellaris team is completely focused on making every possible sci-fi theme that you can imagine, put into one game. On Star Trek: Infinite, we want to make the ultimate Star Trek fantasy. We want it to be very bespoke.”
While Stellaris certainly provides the foundational mechanical elements, Infinite’s gameplay experience is shaped by its Star Trek setting. Rather than offering a dozen different playable empires with subtly different play styles, Infinite narrows your options to four major powers with conflicting philosophies. The United Federation of Planets is driven by scientific advancement and intergalactic cooperation.
